Journalist Greg McMillan of TheGreenHub.ca scours the internet for up-to-the-minute green stories that are important to you. His compilation of news items from around The Green Hub plus quirky tidbits and trends makes sure you are in the loop …. without doing the time-consuming legwork.
NOT SAYING yes, not saying no.
But any way one chooses to look at it, the announcement that a strain of a bacteria, called enterococcus, was discovered by a microbiologist at Brantford General Hospital makes the average person sit up and take notice.
A local infectious disease specialist plays down the finding, saying the bacteria is not a very aggressive organism. But a closer look is always warranted when the possibility of superbugs and health risks coincide.
In Montreal, just last summer, a story in the Montreal Gazette said that the city’s hospitals were battling 21 outbreaks of the superbug, which can cause severe blood infections and pneumonia.
Said Dr. Renée Paré of Montreal’s Public Health Department: “Fortunately, it’s not a bacterium that causes a lot of infections, but when one has an illness, is suffering from cancer or is in the intensive care unit, there’s a risk of it entering the bloodstream and causing infections or infecting the urinary tract.
“And because it is very resistant, we have fewer antibiotics to treat it. That’s where the problem lies.”
Jacques Besson, president of the Association for the Defense of Victims of Nosocomial Infections, an organization that seeks to raise awareness about hospital-acquired infections went one step further, however, saying: “It’s a new sign that our health system no longer meets the demands of modern medicine and patients’ safety.”
So, all we’re saying is: Let’s give this finding the serious attention it deserves, and not try to sugarcoat it … Maybe it’s not a cause for alarm, maybe it is … Time will tell …
Elsewhere around The Green Hub: Why agri-tourism adventure farm in Waterford has packed it in … How solar industry types in Brant got message across to candidates … How ‘owl prowl’ teaches about nature and wildlife …. How students braved Mother Nature to make a point at Turkey Point … Why a wind farm owner is being sued … Why ash trees are no longer in the mix at Backus conservation area … How Taste of Norfolk event relies on locally sourced food … Why the future of Harvestfest in Delhi is up in the air … Why Brant councillors want testing of fill from a Toronto construction site that was dumped on farm … How massive wind project planned for West Niagara might not get off the ground …
Last but not least: Good for the CAA to initiate a program to recycle old batteries, oil and tires … for free. And the first 100 recyclers even get a free pack of yard waste bags …
(Check back regularly for a new post from The Green Ticker … and The Greg McMillan Daily)
